Southwest Children's Literature

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Dzání Yázhí Naazbaa': Little Woman Warrior Who Came Home
A Story of the Navajo Long Walk

Book Review:

This book tells the story of a Navajo girl, who becomes a woman, during the time of the Navajo Long Walk. This forced march was from the base of Black Mesa in northern Arizona to eastern New Mexico, a 450-mile walk. This book gives an historical account of what a Navajo clan encountered.

Dzání Yázhí Naazbaa' was her given name, which translates to Little Woman Warrior Who Came Home. Her family called her Dzáníbaa' for short as her birth name was sacred. She was born in 1856 at the base of Black Mesa in Arizona. She was content living in her family's hogan until the day United States soldiers came and captured her while she was tending sheep. They tied her up and took her to Fort Canby where she found other kidnapped Navajo children. Soldiers were using the children to lure the Navajo parents off their sacred land. Once reunited, the Navajo marched east to Fort Sumner. This journey was difficult on all clan members particularly the sick and old. Stragglers were taken aside and shot leaving the bodies, not allowing for proper burial, or mourning as Navajo tradition dictates.

Conditions at Ft. Sumner were challenging at best. The water supply was too alkaline for crops to grow, and the food soldiers provided was old and rotten. Dzáníbaa' stole corn and oats from the horses' supply as that was better quality. She was caught and punished by soldiers. Her punishment was to have mud smeared all over her. She was humiliated but felt the risk was worth it because her family benefited.

Dzáníbaa' reached puberty during her time in captivity which was distressing to her mother because they didn't want to hold the kinaaldá (puberty ceremony) off sacred ground. Although some traditions had to be postponed, Dzáníbba' and her clan kept those that they could.
Four years after capture, a soldier named Sherman was persuaded to release the Navajo and allow them to return to their sacred land. Once back on their own land Dzáníbaa' was proud to be a Navajo and to be a part of all they had survived.

Evangeline Parsons Yazzie, the author who is a Navajo woman, has a note at the back of the book explaining why she wrote the book, which gives an accurate history of the Navajo Long Walk. The entire text is written first in Navajo and then in English. The pictures, illustrated by Irving Toddy, give the reader a sense of what it is like in the desert. This book is rich in texture and earth-colored tones. Realistic facial expressions show the emotions that all were feeling. The pages without illustration have Navajo weavings as a background for the text. The pictures provide vivid details about the clothing the Navajo wore at the time.

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